designing an irrigation system for the entire Pecos Valley. The company built the Avalon Dam on the Pecos River in 1891, creating a six-mile (10 km)-long reservoir. The Avalon Dam's rockfill structure with impervious earthfill facing was the first of its type to be used for irrigation in the United States. It was high and long at its crest. An irrigation canal paralleling the Pecos River was also built. The canal crossed over the Pecos three miles (5 km) south of the dam by a massive long, wide wooden flume built in 1890. Hagerman's company began building a second dam, the Mcmillan Dam, in 1892. It was nine miles (14 km) upstream from the Avalon site. In August 1893, flooding washed out the Avalon Dam and the flume across the Pecos River, and damaged the Mcmillan Dam. Despite the economic depression which had hit the nation, Hagerman poured money into reconstruction and repair of the structures, completing the dams in 1894. Similar to the Avalon structure, the McMillan Dam was a rockfill dam, long and high. The Mcmillan Dam served as a water storage facility, while the Avalon Dam served as a water distribution center for the irrigation system. The Avalon Dam, meanwhile, was raised by five feet and extended by . The flume was also rebuilt. The irrigation project, however, began to slowly collapse. Hagerman's local business partners sold their interests in the Pecos Irrigation and Improvement Company in 1894. Experiments in growing a number of crops in the region had not met with much success. The company began to hemorrhage money, Hagerman's interest in the project began to wane, and additional financial support was not forthcoming. The company declared bankruptcy in 1898. Another flood washed out the wooden flume the same day. The company was sold to the Pecos Irrigation Company on August 17, 1900. That same year, Hagerman moved from his ranch into the town of Roswell. Death J. J. Hagerman's son, Herbert James Hagerman moved to New Mexico shortly thereafter. He worked the Hagerman ranch while his father lived in Roswell. Herbert was named territorial governor of New Mexico in 1906. Hagerman's health failed toward the end of 1900. He returned to Italy, and died in Milan on September 13, 1909. J. J. Hagerman is considered one of the most important men in New Mexico history. Along with John Chisum, Charles Eddy and Robert Tansill, Hagerman